Summary
• Alerting software allows customers to access product and price lists automatically updated on your website.
• A customer portal allows access to customer-specific information only.
• Online quoting systems allow round-the-clock pricing.
• Full web shops remain a challenge for the independent timber merchant.
Is the information locked in your computer trading system of use and value to your customers? Early generations of trading systems were used in offices, tied to a desk with a hefty terminal. Later we were able to push that computing out round the yard, into the shop and on the road with mobile devices. Now we are comfortably into the internet age there are tools to open up your system to customers and suppliers – the question being, how far should you go to gain extra value for the business?
The first level of information available for publishing is to add stock and pricing information to product lists on your company website. Looking at the majority of timber merchant websites they are graphically smart, listing by category the types of products sold by the business. Moving this forward with modern alerting software, it is possible to generate web pages (html) containing the same product lists, but showing a current retail price and stock level. These pages would be created automatically by your trading system and uploaded onto your website. Customers can then get an idea of prices and, more importantly, know if you are carrying stock. The alerting software can be selective about the information it shows, so stock information can be grouped to “in stock” and “more due soon”, or “1-10”, “11-50”, “50+” to filter out some of the specific detail of your stock control records.
At this point you may be thinking, it’s all well and good being able to publish information to an open website, but all my customers have special pricing and I don’t want competitors knowing my stock levels.
The solution is a customer portal. Sounding like something from Dungeons & Dragons, a customer portal is a secure area in your company website where customers can log in to access information which is pertinent to them. They can view their account details, find old orders and reprint invoices, in addition to seeing product prices that account for any agreements you may have made.
Where the capabilities of a customer portal is now moving a step further is by allowing the customer a chance to set preferences and investigate information directly in your system. So they can select if they want quotes by email or fax, whether they want to be invoiced daily, weekly or monthly, and have a directory of reports to instigate their trading history with you. Once set up, the information for this customer portal is generated by your system, so providing this service to your customers needs no more work than maintaining who is allowed a user account and what it can access.
Either within a customer portal or open to the wider world we are seeing significant interest in generating online quotes. With the working day getting fuller, it’s a useful tool for customers to be able to go on a website and put together a quote any time of the day or night. The two challenges to providing this online service are how much of your pricing model needs to be added to the website and, while listing stock items is relatively simple, specials still require input from the sales team. Despite these challenges, online quotes could be like taking on an extra salesman who never sleeps.
The most advanced use a customer can have on your website is a full web shop – the ability to enter orders directly into your trading system. This is a relatively simple operation if you are posting DVDs across the country, but more of a challenge for the independent timber merchant. A common view among our customers is that too many questions need answering to process a timber order online, but if the concerns of quantity handling, advanced pricing and delivery limitations could be overcome, what value would there be to the business of a full web shop?
As web tools develop, one of the most promising benefits for any business is that, once set up, these tools require minimal maintenance to work for the business. Whether simply publishing more information, or receiving and processing additional orders, good web tools are out there working for you day and night.
Internet use is empowering customers, and changing expectations about the information they demand and how accessible it should be. A capable website may be a competitive advantage today, but how long before it becomes as much a business essential as the phone or fax?
